The complaints about the prices in the Piazza San Marco have always struck me as a little strange, sort of like complaining that the Cable Car in San Francisco is too slow. You're not paying for coffee or beer, you're paying for sitting in the Piazza San Marco at Quadri or Florian, both of which are several hundred years old. That may or may not mean anything to you, and if it doesn't then by all means don't stop there--there's plenty of decent coffee available for a few Euros elsewhere.

I think that many travelers are just so tired / overwhelmed that they want to get a coffee at XYZ location. Paying for the privilege of sitting when you have sore feet or using the bathroom if you have to wee can be worth it!

We were in Venice last May. Stayed at the JW Marriott on it's own island for a couple of days. It was just okay.

The best place we stayed was the Hotel Dei Dogi (https://www.dahotels.com/grand-hotel-dei-dogi-venezia/). Incredible location, staff, management, and facility. It's away from the crowds (look up it's connection with the word "ghetto") but easy walk to shops, restaurants, best pizza place in the world, gelato, the municipal water taxis, the train station, and churches.

Speaking of churches - this hotel is 3 buildings away from a church few people visit even though it houses one of the largest collections of paintings by Tintoretto any where (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tintoretto) including a couple of his most famous. If you visit ask about the one that was stolen in 1969.

Why is Venice sinking? Consider the weight of what these ships contribute from May until Oct.

There are an average of 5 ships per day with 2000 passengers weighing an average of 125 pounds ~ 1.25 M pounds per day. Worse - most of them don't dine in Venice since they have meals provided on the ships. But worse yet - at least half of them have to go pee while they are walking around.